Police on alert after drug suspect's slaying

Police in Minneapolis and St. Paul are on heightened alert after police shot and killed a drug suspect last week.

Victor Gaddy was shot and killed by St. Paul police after they tried to block him in during an attempted stop in the city's Payne-Phalen neighborhood.

Gaddy was also reported to be a street gang member, and Minneapolis Police Department spokesman Stephen McCarty said his department was investigating Gaddy's alleged affiliation. McCarty said police were aware of a threat of retaliation for Gaddy's death.

"The concern is that we received some information, some possible threats against officers in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the Twin Cities area in general," McCarty said. "As we do from time to time when we receive these, or all the time when we receive these, we take the information seriously and our officers are prepared to deal with it."

McCarty said such threats aren't unheard of. He also noted that police have a good safety record in Minnesota. But gang retaliation was also thought to have been a factor in the slaying of Minneapolis police officer Jerry Haaf in 1992.